Grady was worried for other reasons, too, and tried not to show it. He and Zoe were alone in the lounge. After the brief skirmish, and the dispersal of the remaining Earth Galactic forces that formed the blockade, he had once more given Tara the con. With her at the helm, and Mbeki taking over the weapons and navigation station, Adventurer and the victorious rebel forces were now headed to New Heb station.
What would they find there? They already knew Rosie was the leader of the rebellion in this sector, so her role wasn’t that different from their own reality. The revolt itself, however, was not the same. Despite the recent victory, Grady harbored no illusions that the fight had turned a corner in the insurrection’s favor. Earth Galactic’s main fleet in the region, including the starcarrier Ganymede, would no doubt soon discover that the rebels had fled the Badlands. They would want revenge for the defeat of the blockading vessels. New Heb was still very much in danger, and with it, Adventurer and her crew.
Was it time to alter course and make for the rendezvous point with Fidelon and his mothership? Grady had given Major Kotov his word he and Adventurer would help escort the rebel fleet all the way to New Heb. Was he prepared to renege on that commitment and beat a hasty retreat from this reality, on the assumption the alien ship, Epsilon, was still at its last known coordinates? And what of the malfunctioning fusion drive? Could he and his crew rely on it to transport them across the vast distance to where Fidelon’s vessel hopefully waited?
He gave himself a mental shake and brought his attention back to the room, and Zoe.
She regarded him in silence for several heartbeats, her expression stony. “I’m sure. I’ve never hidden from a challenge in my life, and I don’t plan on startin’ now. Besides, we can’t be certain Rosie never met my counterpart in this dimension. What if she did, and the two got separated? Then she’d be overjoyed to see me.” Even as the words spilled from her lips, Grady noticed Zoe’s mouth twist into a grimace, as if she didn’t really believe what she said.
He tugged at his lower lip. “I already told you. When Mal studied the IC database he downloaded from Cavalier outpost, he found no mention of your alternate self in this sector. Far as we can tell, your doppelgänger never made it to New Heb.”
“There’s a war on. Records can be lost, destroyed.” Zoe leaned forward on the chair she straddled. “And we don’t have access to Earth Galactic’s personnel data.” She paused, sighed, swore, and rubbed her forehead. “Who am I kiddin’? Like we talked about, the version of me in this reality was probably killed in combat.” She gave him a rueful grin. “I always wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Perhaps my alternate self beat me to the punch.”
Before Grady could respond, Tara’s voice came over the internal comm: “All hands, be advised, we are on final approach to New Heb and have been assigned a docking slot. Whoever’s going ashore, don’t forget to pack your undies and toothbrush.” There was a pause, and she added, “Oh, and wait until you get a load of the firepower mounted on the station. Multiple laser cannons, railguns, and missile pods. New Heb’s a veritable fortress in this reality.”
“Huh,” Grady said. “Sounds like the station has been militarized.”
“Well, it is on the frontline of a war,” Zoe said. “One that’s going badly for the rebellion. You’d expect it to be well defended.”
“Fair point. Which puts a different slant on Rosie’s role. She’s not the head of a civilian governing council overseeing a growing and prosperous space station, but a military commander responsible for leading the fight in this region against superior odds. I wonder what else has changed?”
“You’re talking about your family, aren’t you?” Zoe asked in a soft voice.
Grady hesitated, looked away, and downed another swig of coffee. He set the mug on the table and pinched his nose between his thumb and index finger. “Yeah, it’s been weighing on my mind. What with my mum being alive in this dimension, and the possibility—call it high probability—that Earth Galactic has taken control of New Ireland, and I’m worried about what’s happened to her, Dad, and Kevin.”
“The same advice you gave me applies to your situation too, remember?”
“Uh…you’ve lost me.”
Zoe gathered herself and said, “They’re not actually your family, are they? Just like the Rosie in this reality isn’t the same one I know from back home. Their lives might have evolved along very different paths.”
Silence followed, and Grady shifted position with a grunt. He gently massaged his leg. At times, the wound itched to the point that he was almost tempted to rip off the bandage. But Hawthorne assured him that the prickling sensation was proof the nanites were doing their work as programed. Once they finished helping to repair the injury—greatly reducing his recovery time—they would deactivate and be purged by his natural bodily functions.
“You’re right,” he said at last, meeting her gaze. “My mind insists that my true family is back in our reality and my mother is long gone. But my emotions don’t seem to want to agree.”
“Tell me about it,” Zoe said with a groan. She rested her chin on her forearm draped across the chair back. “Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you decide to visit your mother in this dimension. How do you think she’d react to seeing you?”
Grady stared at the floor in silence, his manner pensive, then looked up. “She and my dad—assuming he’s still alive here, too—think I died years ago, killed during the failed mutiny on the Gany. For all I’m aware, even though New Ireland is an unaffiliated territory, they may have considered my counterpart to be a traitor, or an idealistic fool. If so, they’re not likely to welcome me—an alternate son from a parallel universe, fighting for the insurgency—with open arms.”
“But your gut wants to know for sure, regardless, is that it?”
He held her gaze and said nothing for several seconds, his lips pursed. “I’m not so sure I do. Might cause more harm than good for me to contact my family in this reality. Maybe I should leave well enough alone and not go looking for trouble—and emotional pain.”
“What about Tara? What’s her take on all this? She was much younger when your mother died, wasn’t she?”
He hoisted his shoulders in a shrug and exhaled through his nose. “She’s conflicted, like me, I guess. It’s a weird situation for all of us.”
“You can say that again.” Zoe reached up and fingered the back of her head, her hair tied up in a tight bun. A tremor ran through the deck, followed by a series of thumps and clunks. “Sounds like we’ve docked.”
As if in response, Tara appeared in the doorway. “We just received a message from Captain Lorcan. He’s invited you both to meet with Rosie and him in the admin building. If you accept the invite, their Mbeki will be here in about half an hour to act as an escort.”
Grady eased to his feet. “I expected as much.” He looked at Zoe and raised his eyebrows. She gave a quick nod, saying nothing, and he turned back to Tara. “Please tell him we agree.” Once Tara had returned to the cockpit, he took one more gulp of coffee. “Well, I guess that settles it. Too late now for you to hunker down in your cabin.”
Zoe’s face was even paler than usual as she rose from the chair. She tilted her chin up and said, “Nah, like I mentioned, not my style. Ignoring reality never did anyone much good—it nearly always ends up biting you in the butt. The sooner we get this over with, the better. Time to discover what this reality’s Rosie thinks of me—if anything.”
Alternate Mbeki arrived at thirty minutes on the dot after Tara commed to accept the meeting request. He said very little as he marched ahead of Zoe and Grady on their way to the administration complex. “This one is even less talkative than ours,” Zoe whispered, her hand placed against the side of her mouth. Grady couldn’t help but crack a small grin. “Must run in the genes, no matter what flavor of the multiverse we’re in.”
He didn’t need a guide to locate the designated conference room. The station looked pretty much the same, though with a few notable changes compared with the New Heb he called home. Heavily armed rebel militia stood on guard at key intersections, while in the distance he spotted a sandbagged machine laser battery atop the power building.
Few people sat at the outdoor cafes, and their conversation was subdued. No laughing children darted between the tables, and the artificial sunlight was set far lower, no doubt to conserve power, conveying a pervasive air of gloom.
The bleak impression was that of a fortress at war—its inhabitants dour. This was not the upbeat, thriving New Heb he was familiar with. A further reminder he and Adventurer’s crew and passengers were out of place here.
And yet, as they passed a woman and child seated on a bench, he reflected that these people were no different from those who lived on New Heb in his dimension. With one notable exception: the rebellion was faltering, in danger of collapse. Could he just turn around and leave when he had the means—a powerful warship—to help bring the battle to the enemy, as he’d demonstrated in the showdown with the super destroyer Balsam? Wasn’t freedom worth fighting for, no matter which reality was the setting for the struggle?
He slid his gaze to Zoe. She had applied fresh makeup and changed into a pristine uniform jacket. She noticed his attention and sent him a nervous grin. What must she be feeling, about to meet a duplicate of the woman she knew and loved, who might regard her as a total stranger? If that transpired, how would it affect Zoe’s mental state?
Grady drew a deep calming breath and composed his face as they strode through the double doorway into the admin center and nodded to a pair of sentries. If Rosie asked him to remain in this dimension for longer and once again bring Adventurer’s firepower to the conflict, how would he respond? Could he deny Zoe—and the rest of his crew and passengers—the right to return home?
And what of his family? What if his counterpart mother would be thrilled to meet him, delighted that her son was restored to her and not caring that he came from a different universe? How could he turn his back on her and lose the chance to see her again, hear her voice, her warm laugh, and feel her loving embrace once more?
His lips formed a thin line as he and Zoe followed Mbeki into the elevator, his mind in turmoil.
28
There was no mistaking the tall, willowy woman with light brown skin and tightly curled dark hair who turned with an inquisitive manner as they were ushered into the conference room.
